Port Authority prepares for possible dockworkers strike

By Kiah Collier

December 22, 2012Updated: December 22, 2012 6:28pm

With a looming dockworkers' strike that would force it to shutter its two container terminals, the Port of Houston Authority says it is working with Customs and Border Protection to arrange extended work hours in the days leading up to Dec. 30 so businesses can clear out cargo.

That day is when dockworkers represented by the International Longshoreman's Association could stop moving cargo carried in containers if union leadership and management do not reach a deal on a master contract covering 14,500 dockworkers at 14 East and Gulf Coast ports from Texas to Maine.

Negotiations broke down early last week, when the two sides were unable to agree on a contract extension that would allow more time for talks. No further meetings had been scheduled as of Saturday.

A strike, the Port Authority said Friday in a post on its website, would result in the closure of its two container terminals at Bayport and Barbours Cut that generate about 60 percent of its revenue.

"If agreement is not reached prior to the above-mentioned deadline, the (Port of Houston Authority's) container terminals will be closed until the parties reach resolution at the national level," the post said. "The Port Authority is concerned about this anticipated work stoppage and remains hopeful that if it occurs, it will be short in duration."

Extended hours are being arranged for Dec. 26, 27 and 28.

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The post notes that the Port of Houston is the largest container port in Texas, handling 96 percent of waterborne containers in the state, as well as 70 percent of the container cargo on the Gulf Coast.

Other Houston terminals that handle containers, which typically carry consumer goods, include the privately-owned Greensport Industrial Terminal and Texas Terminals.

Impact on economy

Prolonged strikes can have a significant economic impact as they disrupt the supply chain at all levels, although the Port Authority said it could not calculate the precise impact of a strike until after it occurs.

"Port Authority staff is maintaining regular communications on this matter with the container carriers calling its terminals, as well as representatives of the ILA members who work those terminals," the post said.

According to the National Retail Federation, a 10-day strike at West Coast ports in 2002 had a $1 billion per day economic impact.

That industry group sent multiple letters to President Barack Obama last week urging the administration to intervene. It had pressed the negotiating parties earlier this year to extend the current contract past the holiday shipping season.

The contract had been set to expire at the end of September, but was extended through Dec. 29.

The New Jersey-based U.S. Maritime Alliance, which is representing management in the negotiations, said in a statement Friday that the 14,500 workers covered under the contract would lose $5 million in wages "for each day they're out of work."

The union said it had agreed to an extension through Feb. 1 on condition management would drop a provision concerning container royalties, which are payments workers receive based on cargo weight.

Some cargo unaffected

A silver lining for the Port of Houston is that it is predominantly a petrochemical port with about 60 percent of all ships serving that industry. Oil tankers and other types of cargo, such as break bulk steel and autos, won't be affected by the strike.

The negotiation breakdown last week came just after a strike by a different workers union at the West Coast ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which handle more than a third of all U.S. container imports - more than the Port of Houston.

Local port organizations, including the West Gulf Maritime Association and the Greater Houston Port Bureau, said in interviews last week that a strike appears all but imminent with only a week left and no meetings set.

The Maritime Association estimates that 1,000 union workers are on the wharves in Houston each workday. The Port Authority said it employs 80 to 150 dockworkers at its two terminals on any given day.